Jewel mounting



United States Patent JEWEL MOUNTING David Karp, Riverdale, Hubert Ham,JacksonHeights, Jack Reckson, Brooklyn, and William Hoffman, Bronx,N.Y.; said Ham, said Reckson, and said Hoffman, assignors to said KarpApplication June -6, 1956, Serial No. 589,628 2 Claims. (Cl. 63-28)expense. Since several smaller diamonds cost less than a single diamondof the same total weight, attempts have been made to group several ofthe smaller diamonds in a manner which presents a larger viewable area.Because of the conventional manner of mounting, however, the lines ofdemarcation between adjacent stones are readily visible and the surfaceof the composite diamond is broken up by greater or lesser visibleamounts of the metal which holds the individual stones in place.

lt is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide animproved mounting for receiving a plurality of precious stones and forholdin-g said stones securely, but in direct lateral contact with eachother.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an article ofjewelry including a plurality Vof precious stones held together in sucha manner that the lines of demarcation between the individual stones arenot readily discernible.

Another object of the invention is to provide an article of jewelry,such as a ring, including a plurality of stones held together by thespaced prongs of a setting in such a manner that a maximum surface areaof all of the stones is visible while all of the prongs, which arevisible to a minimum extent, do not break up the continuity of theornamental jeweled surface.

Still another object of the invention is to arrange and securely holdtogether a plurality of precious stones in a manner which presents anunimpaired, continuous jeweled surface heretofore obtainable only withsingle stones of considerably greater weight.

Yet another object of the present invention is to hold a plurality ofprecious stones together in a secure mounting in such manner that eachindividual stone is shown to its best advantage and all of the stones,considered as a group, are shown in a manner wherein an integrated andoverall eect of a single large stone of increased size and brilliance isachieved.

These and other objects and advantages are realized in accordance withthe present invention, a preferred embodiment of which will now bedescribed more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing,wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a ring carrying a plurality of preciousstones in a setting` according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of the ring of Fig.1 with the setting and precious stones shown separated from each other;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of a corner portion ofthe setting and precious stones of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view in side elevation of the settingwithout the stones, taken along line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4 with the stones mounted inthe setting;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view in elevation taken along the line 6 6 of Fig.1 and Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view in elevationtaken along the oblique line 7 7 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 and 4, the ring comprises afinger encircling or ring portion 11 which may be ornamented inconventional manner either with cut-out work, baguets, etc. A gemmounting designated generally as 12 for holding precious stones isformed integrally with or otherwise secured to the ring portion 11.

The mounting 12 comprises a plurality, i.e., four in the presentembodiment, of mutually upwardly and outwardly divergent uprights 13which, when viewed in transverse section, define the corners of arectangle. The uprights 13 are connected to each other at their inner orlower ends and to the ring portion 11 by lateral walls 14 inconventional manner. The top portions of the uprights 13 are joined toeach other by four pairs 15, 16, 17 and 18 of spaced parallel bars. Asseen in Fig. 4 the tops of the bars of each set, e.g., 15a, 15b and 17a,17b

' are flat and dene a plane which is inclined downwardly and outwardlywith respect to the horizontal at an acute angle a. At the fourlocations where the pairs of bars 1S-18 meet the uprights 13prong-forming elements 19 are provided, these elements extendingsomewhat above the horizontal plane dened by the tops of the inner bars15a, 16a, 17a, 18a. The inner portion of each element 19 is providedwith a right-angled corner for receiving a respective corner'of thecentral or substantially rectangular stone or baguet 20.

The` elongated substantially rod-shaped stones or side baguets 21, 22,23, 24 are cut in conventional manner so that they are provided withbevelled projecting end portions by means of which they may be clamped.The side baguets 21-24 are initially seated on the setting shown inFigs. 2 and 4 so that they rest loosely on the pairs of bars 15-18 ofthe mounting 12. When so seated the edges of the central baguet 20 willdirectly abut an edge of each of the peripheral baguets 21-24 so that,when viewed from the top only the live diamonds will be Visible, as seenin Fig. l, together with the small top end surfaces of the uprights 13.

A sharp tool is then dug into each prong-forming element 19 and thematerial of the element is deformed twice along mutually perpendicularlines to form crossed indentations 25 as seen in Fig. 7. Each of thesemutually perpendicular lines is substantially an extension of the linedefined by the abutting edges 4of the rectangular jewel 20 and one ofthe rod-shaped jewels 21 to 24. The element 19 is thus transformed intoa prong 26 which includes a portion 26a (Fig. 7) holding down a cornerof the central baguet 20' and two portions 26]) holding down respectivebevelled ends of two side baguets such as 23, 24 (Fig. 3). When all ofthe elements 19 have been transformed into prongs 26 the mounting willhave the finished appearance shown in Fig. l.

Because the inner edge of each baguet 21-24 is in direct contact with anedge of baguet 20, the assembly of ve diamond baguets has the appearanceof a single diamond of larger size. The inclination a ensures therequired contact and avoids the need for any spacing between theabutting edges of the baguets. Because of this `angular inclination,less care need be taken -in arranging the peripheral baguets since aslight overlap will not be noticeable. Moreover, the inclination givesto the assembly the appearance of a single large stone provided withVa'plurality'ofsquarecut'facets for refraction of light and the depressedzones along the boundary between adjacent baguets adds to this eiect. lnaddition, the comparatively small distancebetween the bars of each pairas opposed to the dimensions of the rectangle, i.e., the distancebetween opposite inner bars, further gives to the baguets the appearanceof facets of a single large stone. The factthat it is actually adepressed zone cannot be visually detected except upon extremely closeexaminationwith a jewelers loupe.

By way of specific. illustration, an assembly of baguets weighing 0.6carat has the same external visual appearance asV a single diamondweighing about 1.0 carat. Moreover, the cost ofthe smaller baguets isconsiderably less than that of even an equal weight of a single diamondso that there is an economy factor far in excess of 50%.

The mounting can be made of precious metals such as platinum, gold,silver, or the like, but can also be made of any other materials ofsufcient strength to hold the baguets securely. The number of uprights13 will of course depend upon the number of peripheral baguets to bejoined to thecentral diamond. lt is obvious that a greater or lessernumber than four may be provided although when more are provided it willbe necessary to employ a polygonal central baguet having more than fourprincipal rectilinear edges.

Due to the spacing of the bars of each set, the spacing of the uprights,and the spacing between the bars and the respective members 14, there isdefined a window for the lateral passage of light below each side baguet21 to 24 so that the assembled diamonds or other stones will exhibit amaximum amount of brilliance.

The baguets of course can be precious stones other than diamonds, eg.,rubies, emeralds, Sapphires, and the like, and the cuts thereof andnumber of `facets can be varied. The angle a can also be varied withinwide limits and can even be as when it is desired that the table of theperipheral baguets, i.e., the plane of Vthe top, is to be ilat andhorizontal. While dilerent stones could be used within a single setting,it follows that the effect of a single stone of increased size cannot berealized except when all stones are of the same material andsubstantially of the same color and quality.

Various changes and modifications can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as defined by the annexed claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A mounting for jewels comprising four uprights substantially definingthe corners of a rectangle, a pair of spaced bars interconnecting eachpair of adjacent uprights, a rectangular jewel' partially receivable inthe opening formed by and resting upon the upper edges of the innermostof said bars, four rod-shaped jewels each partially received in eachopening formed by each pair of bars and the uprights interconnected bysaid pair of bars, said rod-shaped jewels resting upon the upper edgesof their associated bars, and a prong-forming element affixed to theupper end of each upright and extending above the upper edges of saidbars, the inner longitudinal edge of each of said rod-shaped jewelsdirectly abutting one' of the peripheral edges of said rectangularjewel, said prong-forming elements each being deformed along mutuallyperpendicular lines to form prongs and grooves which prongsV overlietheadjacent corner portion ot said rectangular jewel and the adjacentsmaller edge portions of two of' said rodashaped jewels, each of saidgrooves being' in the top surface of said prong-forming element andbeing substantially an extension of the line defined by the abuttingedges'of said rectangular jewel and one of' said rod-shaped jewels.

2. A' device as defined in claim 1 wherein the upper edge'of theouter'bar of each of said pairs of bars is lowerthan the upper edge ofthe inner bar of the same pair.v

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS948,774 Strelitz' Feb. 8, 1910 2,207,869 Monnier July 16, 1940 2,749,597Fns June 12, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 585,940 France Dec. 19, 1924 261,703Switzerland Sept. 1, 1949

